Yes you read it right, kitschens. No typo going on here, but the emergence of one of spring’s biggest trends-to-talk-about that celebrates nostalgic decor in the heart of the home. Coming straight out of the latest Pinterest Predicts report (where it forecasts trends based on the most searched terms its 482 million users are hunting down), kitchen decor that’s the right sort of retro is where it’s at. So, without further ado, here come our five top tiled kitschens and scrumptious food for thought…

1. Go Colourful or Go Home

A retro colour palette varies from the mustard and burnt orange tones of the Fifties to the alive-and-kicking pop art colours that you see going on in this colourful kitchen. Want a kitschen? Then say yes to bold teal-like turquoise and an even bigger yes to banana(rama) yellow and you’ve immediately got a playful and retro colour scheme and then some.

But to really bring the kitsch home, add pattern into the mix too like we’ve done with our hexagonal porcelain tiles, Neapolitan. Why use them just in one spot when you can throw them along a kitchen island too (a practical footnote, quite literally, putting them here means no scuff marks from feet on the bar stools like you would with a painted island)?

Retro chevron pattern? Tick. Throwback colour scheme? Tick. Kitsch kitchen? Tick.

2. Kitsch Up Your Cottagecore

Hear pale pink patterned tiles with hand-drawn decoration like flowers and vintage jugs, and you’re probably thinking cottagecore. True, our bestselling tile collaboration with artist Sasha Compton look divine in homes with a thatched roof on top, but you can 100% take them down a retro route – helped along by the fact every tile in the Joyous Expressions collection has actual retro roots with Sasha’a eye for all things Bloomsbury.

In this retro nostalgic kitchen, we blended a few of her tile designs in the one stretch of backsplash – the pretty Blossom Candy, the decorative Coral, the beautifully Bloomsbury Sunset and not forgetting Amphora either. But what really makes them feel retro is putting them against a burgundy marble work surface (try Rosso Levanto or Rojo Alicante Marble if you like the look), the buttermilk wall colour (Camilla’s Cream from our Proper Good Paint collection’s a safe bet) and then the odd retro accessory for good measure.

3. Go Back to the Old School

It doesn’t get much more old school in the world of tiles than terrazzo. You can trace terrazzo tiles as far back as ancient Egypt so to use its chipped stone good looks in your kitchen to go back in time in a big way.

While retro is about being inspired by yesteryear, hear ‘kitsch’ and you’re probably not thinking circa 3100 BC. Retro interiors are more about the recent past – the Mid-Century vibes of the 1950s, the colour crush of the swinging 60s and and the boho-ness of the 70s.

This kitchen’s got all of that going on with its richly coloured Mid-Century colour palette terrazzo floor (Rialto San Marco, FYI) as its biggest statement. Throw in an old-school oven like this vintage cream range and you’ve got yourself a kitschen dream.

4. Kitsch Equals Ruffled Sink Skirts

Nail two trends in one with the ruffled skirt craze that’s taking kitchen counters and bathroom basins by storm. Make them bold and striped à la Colours of Arley, go for a ditty floral fabric by Sanderson or one decorated with a playful motif as Barlow & Barlow do so well. OR, make your kitschen more muted by nailing nostalgic but with softer tones.

The aged appeal of apricot terracotta tiles (Vaughn used our Marlborough picket tile in this yesteryear kitchen) combined with an understated neutral colour scheme, toned-down yellow cabinets and kitsch cottage-headed below-counter skirt proves that a kitschen can be softly spoken too – ruffles and all.

5. Sing Those Blues

And just like that, we come back to chevrons and we come back to bold applications of colour.

In this East Dulwich customer home designed by Pluck Kitchens, they’ve taken the richly saturated teal-blue tone that was big news in the 1950s and run with it. Cutout handles, exposed plywood wall cabinets and bentwood chairs, plus our all-important Neapolitan tiles (though this time in Aqua) that add pace, pattern and further the palette and what you have is a kitschen vision in blue to steal.